When the State kills in law enforcement operations, such as shootings by armed police or deaths resulting from the use of force in arrest and crowd control situations, fundamental questions are raised about human rights, State power and the rule of law – in other words, about the foundations of democracy. The most fundamental right under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is Article 2, the Right to Life. This allows a narrow range of exceptions related to the State’s exercise of lethal force in policing operations, an area that has been the object of increasing amounts of ECHR case law in recent years. In its case law, the European Court of Human Rights explicitly links its formulation of controls over State killing in terms of their importance for democracy, which involves vitally important substantive and procedural dimensions. Through an examination of Article 2, related case law and the challenging – even shocking – incidents involved in their socio-political context, this module will enable you to deepen your understanding of human rights law in a specific area and, essentially, critically engage with key foundations of European democracy. This module will complement and/or build on the other available optional modules on the ECHR and Human Rights Act. It will also be relevant if you are interested in questions of policing and State power.